Article from "Ejdern Telegrafen" 2000,
our yearbook.

Life boat practicing

In the safety manual, the so called ISM code, individually manufactured for each ship by the Swedish Naval Inspection, there is an item - Emergency routine and practice - where a life raft practice is described.
When someone has fallen over board the captain is immediately told and stops the engine until he knows that the propeller won't touch the person in distress and then he blows the whistle for "man over board". Seven short blows. Three crew members, mainly the deck crew, will launch the life boat to rescue the person in the water. Someone also has to keep an eye on the water surface, not too loose sight of him. When they reach him he is pulled on board from the stern of the life boat and is swiftly taken aboard the ship either through the open fore deck gate or by the safety net to the upper deck.
Rescue dummy. When practicing a life boy is thrown over board without any warning. Such a small and light object is easy to rescue, but the crew has practiced with a water filled life sized dummy at an inspection and done well too. Information about and going through fire- and rescue equipment, life belts and safety rafts, and a fire drill plus the above described rescue by life boat take place on the very first test trip in spring, before the public trips start, when as many as possible of the summer's crew members participate. Rescue practicing is then carried out continuously during the summer.

Stabilization tests. At the Shipping Inspection's annual spring visit they made a complaint about Ejdern having no "stabilization book". Something that is now called for all passenger vessels. This meant that new stabilization tests had to be done and they showed Ejdern wasn't placed deep enough in the water. More weight into the hull! By contacts Åke could make a good price for lead pigs from Beckman´s Foundry who delivered 4,3 tons of lead to Ejdern´s mooring place at Borgmästarudden. - The worst thing about it was that we already were well into our summer tours, say's Åke. Still, around Midsummer there were a couple of weeks we could use. Then we could arrange for both the led and the safety rafts. Those were hard days and evenings. Jonte crawled on his stomach, pushing led pigs in place deep into the hull in awkward places. 900 kilos were placed in the hold, Rune, Claes and Stig toild and moild with the lead. They had to be careful with the lead. It was important they washed their hands when they made a break. When the whole job was done all used gloves were thrown away. Other things that had to be done were to fasten the cargo hatch, make the coal hatches tight and put hatches to the drain holes on the inner deck.

Birgitta Bengtsson

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